Hairy wart disease, also called Papillomatus Digital Dermatitis (PDD), Infectious Bovine Interdigital Dermatitis (IDD), Digital Dermatitis (DD), or Stable Foot Rot (SFR) is an infectious disease transmitted among animals. The effects of the disease are lameness, loss of weight, decline of general well-being; in the case of dairy cattle, a loss of milk production and the resulting economic loss to the dairy farmer. Interventive surgery may be required to protect the life of the animal.
The disease is thought to be caused by Fusobacterium mecrophorum, Dichelobacter nodosus, and Bacteroides melaninogenicus. All are anaerobic spirochetes, live in the intestinal track, and are reported to live in the manure/soil for up to ten months.
Present treatments include foot baths containing copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, formaldehyde, tetracycline and mixtures containing sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite. Only tetracycline has been reported to be efficacious and generally when combined with some surgical techniques including a bandage of the infected area that has been treated with tetracycline. There is thus a need for a product that would be more effective in controlling hairy wart disease than presently available products, especially since the disease is becoming one of the biggest issues facing the dairy producer due to reports of the disease spreading throughout dairy herds in the United States.
The use of peroxycarboxylic acids in antimicrobial compositions has been reported, for example, as sanitizing agents, antimicrobial agents, and disinfectants. Particularly, peroxyacetic acid has been used in poultry farm applications as a general disinfectant where control of bacteria and virus is a critical factor. The use of peroxyacetic acid directly on animals for treating infectious diseases has not been reported.